STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - When the city recently unveiled legislation to raise the age of purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products to 21, state Sen. Diane Savino learned deli owners outside the five boroughs were salivating at the prospect of making money off those nicotine-cravers who weren't old enough to buy smokes here.

"When I saw that," Ms. Savino said, "I knew it was time to do this statewide."

By Friday, she'd introduced a bill that would raise to 21 the age to buy tobacco products across New York.

Ms. Savino said anything that can be done to prevent folks from becoming habitual smokers is a policy that should be aggressively pursued.

"We're pushing it along. It's getting a lot of support here in the Legislature," said the North Shore senator, adding that the chairman of the Health Committee, state Sen. Kemp Hannon, wants to get the bill on the committee agenda as soon as possible.

Ms. Savino picked up the habit at just 12 years old.

"Back then, you could smoke anywhere," she said, noting that as a teen she bought smokes for her mother and grandfather. "No one thought anything about it when I started adding my own cigarettes to the ashtray."

A minimum age to buy tobacco products was eventually made 18. A decade ago, an effort was made to ban smoking from many indoor public places, like bars and restaurants. Public parks eventually joined the list.

"We've changed so much of [how] society treats smoking that we've reduced the number of people smoking, but not enough," she said.

With this 21-and-older bill, Ms. Savino anticipates that the number of potential smokers will drop.

"The longer you put off becoming a habitual smoker, the less likely you'll become one," she said. ---Follow @siadvance on Twitter, join us on Facebook